The jersey you see above is what Fort Wayne TinCaps players will be wearing on Social Media Night (Thursday, June 13) at Parkview Field. Printed across it are the Twitter handles of all the team’s followers (as of March 11). I like this a lot — it’s a unique shout-out to approximately 6,000 people who care enough about the TinCaps to follow them on Twitter.

The only bummer is I don’t know where @MWLtraveler is on the jersey. Until I find out otherwise, I’ll just imagine it’s printed across the top of the back, where a player’s name normally is.

I was already planning to visit Fort Wayne for the all-Indiana series between the TinCaps and the South Bend Silver Hawks right after the Midwest League All-Star break, but now I’m thinking about going there a week earlier for Social Media Night. I’ve always wanted to participate in a team’s social media night, but for various reasons I haven’t been able to attend one yet. Maybe this will be the time it happens.

In other MWL special-jersey news, the West Michigan Whitecaps will be wearing these throwbacks during Wednesday’s game against the Great Lakes Loons:

Throwback jerseys to be worn by West Michigan players Wednesday. (Courtesy of @wmwhitecaps)

The vintage is 1996, the year the Whitecaps won their first Midwest League title. As part of the team’s 1996 Championship Celebration night, ceremonial first pitches will be thrown out by former pitcher Benito Baez and then-manager Mike Quade.

Yes, that Mike Quade — the one who went on to manage the Chicago Cubs during the tail end of 2010 and the entire 2011 season — led the Whitecaps to their first MWL championship.

Mike Quade in the Wrigley Field home dugout in August 2010. (AP Photo)

The team went 77-61 and featured seven future major-leaguers, including current Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Ramon Hernandez (.255, 12 HR, 68 RBI in 123 games).

That was Quade’s only season with the Whitecaps, who were an Oakland Athletics farm team at the time. The A’s assigned him to manage their Double-A team the following season.

The 2006 season, however, was not Quade’s only year managing in the Midwest League. He also helmed the Rockford Expos to a 74-59 record in 1989 and a 56-80 record in 1990. His most notable player from those years was Matt Stairs, who hit .284 with 2 HR, 14 RBI and 5 SB in 44 games with the 1989 team.

Westbrook has never pitched in a Midwest League game, but he made rehab appearances with the Lake County Captains in 2007 and 2008, when the team was in the South Atlantic League. He was a Cleveland Indians pitcher at that time.